


Dystopia

by lighter



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (in chapter 16 - I have the outline for every single chapter planned and some already written), Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Anxiety, M/M, Poverty, Smut, Violence, it's a dark environment but the characters are keeping their canon personalities as much as possible, there's no point tagging all of the characters that will appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 04:59:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13756836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lighter/pseuds/lighter
Summary: After the collapse of the biggest governments, the world is left in a state of ruin. The economy runs on a trade and barter system, and basic goods such as toothpaste are hard to find. The wealthy are in charge, but to keep the masses under control and to prevent revolt, they offer distractions in the form of "fads". The current fad: music.When Yuuri Katsuki makes a mistake, he jeopardizes his family's future and offers himself to be sold to the wealthy. With them, he is trained by famous vocalist Victor Nikiforov to perform music for the lower class. But stardom goes hand-in-hand with scandal and danger. As Yuuri and Victor develop a closer relationship, more powerful forces act to end not only Victor's career, but his life.





	Dystopia

It was still early. The sun was barely showing itself in the sky; only weak light was reaching the earth. The city was dead silent like it was every morning. Only the occasional car driving outside could be heard.

Yuuri blew on his hands and rubbed them together quickly, trying to bring warmth back into his fingers. This was the eighth time in the past month the electricity had been shut off. Winter refused to give way to spring without a fight, so the situation was uncomfortable at best and painful at worst.

His family had pushed two mattresses together in the main living area of the apartment and shared the makeshift large bed there. When there was electricity, they could use the kitchen stove to heat the entire room.

As much as he didn’t want to move away from the only source of heat in the apartment, he had things to do and couldn’t lie there forever. Carefully, he edged himself away from his family’s warm bodies and rolled off the mattress into a sitting position. Already bundled in multiple layers, all he had to do was push his multi-socked feet into some shoes and he was ready.

Yuuri quietly shuffled through envelopes and flyers on the kitchen table until he had found a piece of cardstock with silver lettering, patted his coat pocket to check for his apartment key, and slipped through front door onto the cracked sidewalk in front of the building.

A particularly strong gust of wind took Yuuri’s cap and, with it, the card he had been holding in his hand. He watched it sail forward and glide to the ground a short distance away before his brain kicked in. Yuuri scooped his cap up off the ground and chased after the card, only a footstep away when the wind moved the card again. Feeling sick, Yuuri ran it down, only grabbing it a second before it slipped through a sidewalk grate.

This was his family’s dinner for the next couple of weeks. He couldn’t lose it.

For Yuuri, it was hard to imagine a time when people didn’t place so much importance on items like cardstock. In his parent’s very early years, the stuff could be found at practically any shop. Now, good paper was hard to come by. His parents had hoarded old wedding invitations and thank you cards when the value of them jumped, and now they could easily be traded for food and other necessities.

It wasn’t just paper. All sorts of once widely-available items were worth just as much as his cardstock. Yuuri’s birthday present the last two years had been sugared nuts. Many sugar cane fields and other crops had been burned when the old governments fell, and Yuuri didn’t want to know just what his mother and father had traded for him to have some. He made them last as long as he could, rationing a couple every few days.

The other side of the city, the part that was gated off with both literal gates and armed men and women, held all sorts of commodities like sugar and thick paper, and probably even more Yuuri had never even heard of. Sometimes he felt complete rage, thinking of the wealthy behind those gates living in such luxury while his family slaved to keep electricity on for even half the time through winter. But like everyone else, he was lulled back into complacency.

It was so easy to get caught up in the hive-mind of the crowd. The wealthy appeased the rest of suffering society with fads. Every few years, the fads would change and bring some novelty into the lives of everyone shuffling through their daily pains. The last fad was dancing. The wealthy would scout talent in the city’s fringes and bring people who could dance into their fold. Small donations were sent back to their families, and just enough people were taken that it kept the majority hopeful, even desperate, to be that lucky. Yuuri’s childhood friend, Phichit, had been taken to be a dancer. Yuuri would see him in the videos projected onto skyscrapers, always smiling and proud that he had been chosen. Yuuri even received a gift from him - a small bag of sugared nuts - right before the fads changed and Phichit disappeared.

The current fad was music. The people were obsessed with it. They would trade their lunches to buy a song for their children or an entire day’s worth of food to audition those same children. Yuuri wasn’t that interested. He was more concerned with keeping his family’s business running.

The Katsuki family was able to collect runoff water from their apartment when it rained, and they sold the clean water back to the community. But lately, a government official had been coming by and demanding more rent money.

“You’re in a prime location to hear song snippets,” he would explain slowly, as if talking to a young child. “This is a high-value location, and you have to pay for that luxury.”

The threat of losing both their home and their business constantly loomed above the heads of the Katsukis, but nothing could be done except harder work.

“Good morning,” Yuuri called when he reached the trading post closest to his home. “I’m here for meals.”

“Mornin’ Katsuki,” the clean-shaven government worker, seated safely behind a bulletproof glass window and two armed guards, raised his hand and waved. “What’ve you got for me?”

“A wedding card. It’s mainly white, too!”

“Hm.” The man waited for Yuuri to slip the card through the small window slot and then gingerly picked it up, turning it over in his hands. After a moment, he leaned forward and held it in front of Yuuri’s face. “There’s a stain on the back, and it’s torn right here on this corner. You see?”

“But they’re small, the whole card is intact this time!” Yuuri was suddenly worried. What if they tried to deny him food again?

The man sighed and looked skyward, pushing his glasses onto the top of his head.

“Please, you know this is a good quality.”

“Yuuri, I don’t like begging. Let me think.” He drummed his fingers on the counter in front of him and finally scratched his chin, winking at Yuuri. “I’ll give you all the meals, but it’s three days without dairy and eight without meat. Understood?”

He’d take it.

 

* * *

 

 

Victor brushed the hair away from his eyes and smiled into the mirror.

 _Sweeter,_ he reminded himself. _They have to love you._

His smile softened, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“What kind of dumb shit are you practicing over there?”

Victor met eyes in the mirror with the blonde boy leaning against the wall behind him, arms crossed and hood pulled just barely onto his head.

“Yakov says I’ve been scowling too much. The people are starting to think I’m not happy.”

“Yeah well, I’m the King of scowling, and I say you’re just fine.”

“What Yakov says goes, Yuri,” Victor reminded gently. The teenager’s eyes dropped for a moment before he pulled his hood on further and abruptly turned to leave.

“I’m going out tonight. And don’t worry, our kind and _generous_ manager gave me permission.”

Victor watched his bandmate stalk out of the room and sank onto the stool at his vanity. He worried about the kid. Victor had been in the entertainment business for a while. First, he had been chosen as a dancer. Then he had made it as a singer. Yuri was newer. This was the first fad he had been a part of. Luckily, his fans thought the grouchy attitude was a cute façade, but everyone behind the scenes knew better. One day he was going to get into trouble, and Victor wouldn’t be able to protect him- especially not from Yakov.

Yakov Feltsman was their band’s “manager”, but his official title was Owner. Owners were wealthy individuals who had complete control over industries or people. Manager? The word was a formality.

Victor loathed him.

He hated how Yakov controlled his every move. He couldn’t stand the way Yakov tried to pressure him into shady dealings, like selling drugs outside the gated city or his body to elite patrons. It upset him when Yakov tried to use Yuri to pressure him, and above all else, it killed him that he abused his dog.

He wasn’t a spiteful person, but if there was one person he could get rid of forever, it would be Yakov Feltsman.

Bitterly, Victor leaned his elbows onto the vanity and pressed his cheek into the palms of his hands. He could hear the tiny splattering sound of raindrops, but he refused to look out the window. Nothing out there but gray skies and gray rain in a filthy gray city.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this fic idea written out for maybe a year now and am finally getting around to sharing it with you! It's really encouraging to read your comments, and even kudos make a writer feel like they're doing something worthwhile with their time! But no obligation, I just hope you guys enjoy the story! You can find me on Tumblr @agapeyuri if you want to talk about the fic or Yuri!!! On Ice (or anything really). 
> 
> Next week's update has more meat in it, this first chapter had to world build a little.


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